Shelter from the Storm
by MelonRinds
Summary: Winry and Edward get caught in a storm and seek shelter in an old barn. A snapshot from the awkward beginning of their romantic relationship.


**Somehow this super angsty idea for a fic turned into a fluffy mess with awkward teenage hormones. I hope it ended up somewhat decent. **

**Rated T for swearing and some mild sexual themes (I think it's mild enough for T?).**

**Enjoy! **

* * *

The rainstorm came quickly and without warning. Buckets of water splattered down on Winry and Edward as they sloshed through the newly forming streams and growing mud puddles along the dirt path from the Resembool market. The sundress Winry had mistakenly thought was a good idea to wear today lapped around her legs wildly as the strong winds blew over her. One particularly powerful gust ripped away the cloth she had been keeping over the basket to protect the food, and the bread she had just bought was already soaked through. She almost wanted to just give up and leave the heavy basket behind, but fruit was getting more and more expensive as winter drew nearer, and so she stubbornly tried to ignore the fact she could no longer feel her numb fingers clenching the handle.

"The apples are not worth this," Winry heard a soggy Edward grunt behind her. "I have half a mind to leave them here in the mud for making me walk all this way in this weather."

Winry rolled her eyes at him and his empty threats, though she was tempted to agree. "You keep saying that, but you and I both know that you want my apple pie too much to go through with it," she flashed him a grin.

Edward glared at her from behind his dripping blond bangs. "You shush. Be that as it may, I did not sign up for this crap!"

The sky responded to his swearing with burst of lightning that flashed in the distance, followed shortly by a crack of thunder. A startled sheep from the Grubbins' family farm leapt over the rotting, wooden fence and onto the path in front of Edward. Edward, who was too preoccupied with exclaiming his discomfort to Winry, didn't notice the fluffy intrusion until his knees collided with it. His tripped and the apples flew everywhere.

"_Fuck!"_ was all Edward said while Winry doubled over in a fit of giggles. "Hey!" he shouted when he heard her laughing. "I could use a little help here, Winry!"

Winry took a deep breath, trying to regain control back over her herself. The last thing she wanted to do right now was kneel in the muck to retrieve apples, but she joined him despite her frozen body's protests. She couldn't stop the snorts of laughter that followed after every time Edward swore, which was a lot.

"Hey! Fuck off! Those are _our _apples you stupid sheep! Get away!"

The sheep _baahed_ back at Edward before chomping down on the apple he was reaching for and scampering off with it.

"There better not be any mud in the pie after all of this," he grumbled.

"Well then maybe you should have thought of that before dropping them all," Winry said.

"And you're going to make _me_ wash them all when we get home, aren't you?"

"Yup!" Winry grinned. Edward responded by trying to splash her with the muddy water. Winry shrieked and leapt back. "Oh Edward, you do _not_ want to start a splash fight with me. I will end you!"

Edward was already laughing before his hand hit the puddle again. Winry dodged the water the same as she did before and scooped up some ammo of her own. The water hit Edward square in the chest. Stunned, he froze for a second before kicking a huge wave of water at her.

The apples lay forgotten while the two of them splashed around in the puddles growing steadily around them. Their shrieks of laughter were drowned out by the recurring thunder. In that moment, Winry felt like they were children again. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt so carefree with him.

She laughed not only at the way Edward's arms flailed while he tripped, but also at just the ridiculous absurdity of having a water fight with Edward after everything they had been through. Only a few months ago she was worrying for his life, for his brother's life – heck – if she herself was going to make it out alive. For so long it felt like every time she thought about the brothers it was whether or not she would ever see them again, happy and whole. It was strange not having those fears cloud her mind anymore, though she still had nightmares.

Her laughter turned hysterical. Letting herself have fun with him again, without worries of dismembered limbs or wars was freeing. It was just her and Edward, and all she had to worry about was whether or not she could best him in this fight. She laughed until her eyes filled with tears and her stomach ached.

Winry declared the fight over after Edward had slipped in the mud again and she kicked a wave over his head. Her dress clung to her bare skin, and her hair rose from the forming goosebumps, but Winry paid no attention. She barely noticed the cold anymore.

"Truce?" she smiled sweetly, offering him her hand.

Edward pulled his head out of the mud with a disturbing _squelch _and spat out some muddy water while Winry grimaced. "Truce," he agreed. He brushed his damp hair back and then stumbled up to face her. And then he froze. "W-Winry."

"What?" Winry asked, startled by his suddenly terrified expression. He raised a hand shakily and pointed a finger at her.

"Y – your dress – "

"What about my – ," and then Winry gasped. With growing horror, she saw that the white sundress she had put on that morning was completely soaked through, and it was doing nothing to hide her bright red underwear.

At least his face was just as, if not more, red. Yes, she would consider that a slight comfort.

"T-take it!" Edward stuttered, practically throwing his jacket onto her. She stumbled back as she caught the mud-spattered sweatshirt.

"Urg, you got me all mucky!" she said, though she hurriedly shoved her arms through the sleeves without hesitation. Edward had shoved his hands in his pockets and turned away from her while she covered herself up. Winry wished his sweatshirt was a bit longer on her. It just barely covered her butt.

The moment was ruined. The two had fallen into their familiar pattern of awkwardness where neither of them really knew what to do around each other when their comfort zone was broken. Winry bit her lip. They were in such a weird place right now, and a water fight wasn't going to make things any more comfortable between them.

"You can turn around now," Winry said once the sweatshirt was safely wrapped around her. Edward obliged and Winry could see his face still resembled the colour of her underwear.

Her mind raced, trying to figure out what would be the least damaging thing she could say next, when a lightning bolt saved her and suddenly decided it was the perfect time to hit the tree growing right next to them on the path. It hit with a deafening crack and the larch split in two. Winry stumbled backwards. A large branch flew off and landed with a squelch about a metre away from where her feet had been.

She shrieked and Edward yelled.

"Fuck – we have to get out of here!"

"The apples!" Winry cried.

"Forget the apples! No pie is worth this!" Edward said, grabbing Winry's hand tightly and pulling her down the pathway. "Look! We can take shelter in Grubbins' barn up ahead!"

He pointed up the hill with his free hand at the familiar building. The barn was old, and the Grubbins' were even older - far too old to maintain it properly. As such, it was quite worn down, consisting mostly of rotten wood and splintered planks. Brown paint was peeling off of the sides and Winry looked at it skeptically, wondering if it could even survive this storm. At least it had a roof that, for now, was completely intact which was good enough for her.

The pair ran as fast as the slippery mud would let them and soon Winry was able to sigh in relief as she stepped out of the downpour and into the shelter of the barn. It wasn't very warm, but the lack of wind and protection from the rain stopped her shivering nonetheless. It was dark inside, with dim light straining to peek through the cracks in the wood, as well as through the door Edward had left slightly open. Winry had to blink a few times before her eyes adjusted. Piles of haystacks littered the dirt floor and Winry collapsed gratefully onto one of them.

"How long do you think it's going to last?" Edward asked, peering through the gap in the door.

"I dunno," Winry answered while pulling his jacket tighter around herself. "I haven't seen it rain this badly in a while." She pulled her knees up to her chin and wrapped her arms around her legs. "Do you think there's a chance the river will flood again?"

She saw Edward shake his head. "Al could take care of it no problem if there was a chance."

Winry nodded, knowing he was right. A slight pang of sadness moved through her as she was reminded again that Edward had lost his alchemy. No matter how many times he had told her it wasn't a big deal to him, she couldn't help but feel a part of the Edward she had known for so long had been lost. Things were so different now.

Edward finally moved away from the door and Winry scooted over on the haystack to make room for him. He sat down and she felt his warm thigh rest against hers. Her heart started to race again, almost as badly as it did when she was running up the hill. Things really were different between them now.

She turned to look at him and he stared back at her with those golden eyes. He gave her a small reassuring half-smile. _God, _he looked so cute with his wet hair dripping into his face that Winry couldn't help herself: she leaned in and kissed him.

She had kissed Edward before. They shared their first the night Edward had given her earrings back while the two of them were alone in her room. It was just something that had started happening between them every now than then when they were alone, which wasn't very often with Alphonse and granny around.

Nothing was ever said between them before, and neither of them had ever acknowledged what exactly it was the two of them were doing. Winry just knew that something about it felt right and natural, and neither she nor Edward seemed to feel the need to talk about it. That would just make it awkward. It had never progressed any further than kissing though, and Winry wondered if it was the fact that he had just seen her in pretty much just her underwear that made her suddenly crave more.

She was sure her grandmother and Al had caught on by now. Though they had kept their kissing very private, Edward would sometimes lean his head on her shoulder while they were sitting next to each other in the living room and sometimes he brushed her hair out of her face when there was barely any need to. He had also been finding a lot more excuses to hug her lately, like as a thank you for tuning up his automail leg. If _that_ didn't cause suspicion, Winry didn't know what did.

There was already something different about this particular kiss though. Their previous ones had all been soft, gentle, and cautious, like both of them were almost afraid of what they were doing. Now the sweet kisses weren't enough for her, and Winry wasn't sure if it was because there was virtually no chance of them being caught or because she just couldn't stand holding back anymore. She deepened the kiss, and brought her hands up to his face where she tangled them up in his hair. Edward responded as enthusiastically as she hoped. A small moan escaped him and he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in as close against his chest. He was so warm.

Winry slid her hands down to his shoulders and held onto them firmly while she leaned back on the hay so that he would fall forward with her. Edward clambered on top of her, moving on from kissing her lips to her jaw, her cheeks, her collarbone, and then her neck. The dry hay stems pricked her back, but she paid them little attention as she focused on remembering to breathe.

Winry closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of his lips on her skin and what his touch was doing to the rest of her body – the goosebumps were no longer from the cold - but it still wasn't enough. She shifted underneath him, trying to take his jacket off of her without having him stop what he was doing. She gave up with one arm out of a sleeve and grabbed one of Edward's hands in frustration - the one that had been resting on her waist. The blood was pumping so loudly in her ears Winry could barely hear the sounds of the rain outside anymore. Her brain had stopped functioning properly, or that's what she decided to tell herself because in a quick moment of insanity she moved Edward's hand and brought it down on one of her breasts.

Her eyes were closed, so she didn't see Edward's own eyes widen. His grip was firm one minute, and then his hand leapt away. She almost moaned from disappointment when he pulled back.

He swallowed and he was breathing heavily. He sat back on his heels over her legs and was making a point to avoid looking at her now that she had taken his jacket off.

"W-Winry, are you sure – I uh – "

"It's fine," Winry said hurriedly, although it wasn't. She sat back up and mentally kicked herself for allowing her hormones to take control for a split second. A quick look at Edward's startled face told her that the damage was done. Blushing like mad she pulled the jacket back over herself while Edward stammered.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean – I just –"

"It's okay," Winry said. "I'm sorry I did that. What we were doing before is fine. I shouldn't have –"

Edward kissed her again before she could finish. _Oh he thought he was being clever, trying to distract her so he didn't have to talk about his feelings._ It was working too. Not only did it mean Winry didn't have to admit anything either, but she found it remarkably difficult to be bothered by anything when his tongue was in her mouth and his chest was pressed up against hers and his hands were back on her waist. She shuddered when his fingers moved through the jacket opening and brushed up against her soaked dress, and could barely control her hips arching into him. Her stomach jumped excitedly when she felt his hands move slowly up her sides, until one just barely brushed the underwire of her bra.

And then he stopped again and this time Winry couldn't help but let out a moan of protest.

"I'm sorry – " Edward panted, closing his eyes resting his forehead on hers. "I'm sorry. I just have no idea what I'm doing."

Winry swallowed, and tried to get her breathing back under control. _Was that all?_ She felt a wave of relief rush over her and a small, slightly hysterical laugh escaped. "Yeah, me neither." She pulled her head back so that she could see what his face was doing. "Don't worry about it."

Edward let out a shaky breath and then gave her a small, shy smile. He blushed and looked down, shaking his head. "Did – did you want me to put my hand back – "

Winry took a deep breath and felt her face growing warm. She looked down at her knees and unsteadily brushed a strand of loose hair behind her ear. "Give me your hand?" she asked.

Edward gulped, looking nervous but he extended his hand out without much hesitation. Winry took it again with both of her hands. His fingers were warmer than hers and she squeezed them, still not being able to comprehend the fact that only a few months ago they had been made of metal.

Then, with a deep breath and reassuring smile at Edward, she brought it back down on her breast. She kept her eyes firmly on Edward's face. All pretense of being a gentleman forgotten, his eyes were locked down where she had placed his hand.

"Holy shit," he finally mumbled, squeezing it slightly.

Winry let out a laugh and shook her head. "You're not very romantic, you know that?"

Edward rolled his eyes, "Shut up." And before she could retort he kissed her again, passionately and hungrily like the first ones they'd shared in the barn. This time Edward's hand remained where it was.

_God, they were so awkward together._ In her many daydreams about the two of them in various sexual endeavours things always went a lot more smoothly. This however had the huge bonus of being real, despite the slight disappointment that the innocent Edward didn't immediately know what to do with her boobs. It's not like she could blame him for it or anything though. With a nervous jolt, Winry felt something hard brush against her thigh. Nope, she definitely did not know how to deal with that yet. She didn't think the two of them could handle more than one awkward step at a time, though her body was screaming otherwise.

"Oh my god, Winry, these are amazing," Edward mumbled against her lips which caused Winry to laugh again. The tension between them was slowly easing.

"I thought you'd like them," she said, pulling back and beaming.

He smiled back, and Winry decided that she could spend ages looking into his eyes without getting the least bit bored. Things were different between them now, and things were _so good, _whether they acknowledged what was happening or not.

And then a cow, hiding somewhere in the depths of the barn, decided to make its presence known by letting out a moo so loud Winry shrieked and almost slipped of the bale of hay in surprise.

This time it was Edward's turn to burst out laughing. "Relax scaredy cat it's just a cow."

"It's got its nose in the basket of apples!"

"Dammit! Fuck no!" Edward leapt off her and hurriedly made for the basket. The cow backed off when it saw him approach, but the basket was already empty.

"Damn. So much for apple pie tonight."

"Bad luck," Winry said, more upset about the fact the cow had interrupted than the fact she wouldn't be eating apple pie tonight.

Edward, looking a bit uncomfortable, pointed to the cow behind them, which had laid itself down on the dirt floor and was staring at them lazily. "We should get out of here. I feel like he's judging me."

Winry sighed and giggled. "He's just thanking you for the apples."

Edward glared at her and she smiled sweetly at him. He finally shook his head. "You're so cute."

"Um – thank you."

"But you're also kind of annoying."

Winry narrowed her eyes. "_So romantic."_

And then, as though the cow hadn't already been bad enough, someone who sounded alarmingly like Farmer Grubbins had started shouting at what she assumed were his sheep outside.

Her eyes widened. "Mr. Grubbins!" Both her and Edward were very familiar with the man, given the amount of times he had caught the two of them and Alphonse digging in his farm or teasing his sheep when they were younger. The man, always armed with his trusty pitchfork, had always terrified her somewhat, and she did not feel like having him catch her in his barn in a see through dress with Edward. "We have to get out of here!"

"Yeah, no kidding." Edward scrambled to grab the baskets before grabbing her hand and moving towards the door. "Let's get out of here before he comes back with a pitchfork."

The two of them slid back outside and darted around the corner out of view. They raced back down the grassy hill, slipping and sliding, towards the path where they were no longer looked like suspicious suspects of trespassing.

The thunder had stopped, but the rain still pattered down, thankfully lighter than before. It had become nothing more than a light drizzle. Winry could see the sun glowing above the rolling hills in the distant background. The dark storm clouds seemed to be moving away towards the north.

Winry marvelled at the fact she could still be in such a good mood when she had just narrowly escaped the wrath of Farmer Grubbins while soaked head to toe, and covered in mud. Edward was somehow enough to make her insanely happy despite of all of this. He walked in step with her, hands stuffed in his pants' pockets, with a small smile on his face.

Though brave in general, something about admitting any sort of sexual attraction to Edward was harder for her than anything else. After her successful forwardness in the barn, she was suddenly feeling a lot more confident, and impulsively bumped into Edward's side, wrapping her arms around his while she did so.

"I'm freezing," she explained when he looked at her in slight surprise. "You feel so warm."

Edward grinned, "Yeah, so do you."

"We should go find another barn."


End file.
